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Introduction to Australia Wide Seven

1 November 2020 Filed Under: Australia Wide Seven Leave a Comment

Australia Wide Seven is a juried exhibition showcasing the artwork of Ozquilt Network members. The exhibition premieres at the Belconnen Arts Centre, ACT from 30 October to 18 December. Gallery hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm. The following introduction was provided by Dr Sam Bowker.

  • View: Australia Wide Seven online gallery
  • Download: Introduction to Australia Wide Seven by Sam Bowker (PDF)
Australia Wide Seven

Reflecting on their experiences of Australia’s vast and varied landscapes, the artists of the Ozquilt Network have showcased the diversity of practices across contemporary Australian quiltmaking. In this exhibition, their work consists of observations across the living world. These are translated into textiles that share rich and subtle engagements with our native flora and fauna, the changing climate, the urban, the interstellar and the microscopic. As fixed forms and fugitive glimpses, these small squares are windows across a changing world.

Though 2020 has been an extraordinary year, it is not specifically Australia’s landscape that is changing. Quiltmaking is constantly renewing itself as new voices find expression through layers of fabric held together by thread. The three selectors, Alison Gummow (SA), Sharon Peoples (ACT) and Alysn Midgelow-Marsden (New Zealand) selected 37 works from 83 entries. Combined with their own contributions, we see 40 small quilts before us.

In this exhibition, you will find residues and traces, or memories of objects and moments that no longer exist. You will find striking juxtapositions of brilliant colour and form, the familiar and the strange. Look for those quilters who have created forms you have not seen before, for those who have honed in as far as the eye can focus, and who have borrowed old words to tell new stories. Quilts are complex surfaces, shaped by the interplay of intriguing materials. More than images, they are sculptural – and in this exhibition’s format, they remind me of a disassembled book, each page contributed by a new author. How closely we look at each quilt determines the story we read from all.

For some, this is a story driven by drawing – as punctuated lines that hold layers together, or visual structures blending the abstract and figurative. For others, it is the image or the substance of the quilt itself, as one thing becomes another. Quilting is a slow and tactile process, it is an exploration of combinations. Ask yourself, what does it tell you about the artist? Does it generate the palpable tingle of wanting to make something yourself?

Quilting generates a thriving ecosystem of critical and inclusive practice that is simultaneously competitive and empowering. We see this clearly in Australia Wide Seven – a journey across the vibrant landscape of contemporary Australian quiltmaking.

Curated by Ozquilt Network, Australia Wide Seven will travel for two years to galleries around Australia and the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky (USA).

About the Author

Dr Sam Bowker is the Senior Lecturer in Art History & Visual Culture at Charles Sturt University, based in Wagga Wagga. He lectures across contemporary Australian and Islamic art and design, and his research builds upon the history of the Egyptian tentmakers and the art of khayamiya applique. Contemporary and colonial quilting informs his teaching and research, such as his recent publications for The Journal of Modern Craft, The Australian Society for Asian Art (TASAA Review) and Craft + Design Inquiry.

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Ozquilt Network Inc
PO Box 753
Wangaratta
VIC 3677 AUSTRALIA

info@ozquiltnetwork.org.au

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Memories of Childhood is a new online-themed exhib Memories of Childhood is a new online-themed exhibition featuring the artwork of OZQN members. The exhibition is divided into four sections. Today’s post looks at memories of family members:
▪️ Jean Fair by Cheryl Lee
▪️ Grandma Chamberlain by Ronda Hazell @anakiequilter 
▪️ Stalingrad Dad by Heidi Drahota @heidi_drahota 
▪️ Memories of Mum from my Childhood by Shirley Drayton
▪️ Family Lines: Apron Strings by Brenda Gael Smith @brendagaelsmith 
▪️ memories: A Family Snapshot by Linda Balding
▪️ Reflections by Lisa Walton @lisawaltonartist 
▪️ this discovering 5 by Ruth de Vos @ruthdevosart 
▪️ First Day Fears by Linda Steele
@lindabsteele 

View the full virtual exhibition on the Ozquilt Network website. https://www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au/exhibitions/online-themed-exhibition/

#ozqnart #ozquiltnetwork #memoriesofchildhood #ozqnmembers #australiantextileart #textileart #artquilts #australianartquilts
Memories of Childhood is a new online-themed exhib Memories of Childhood is a new online-themed exhibition featuring the artwork of OZQN members. The exhibition is divided into four sections. Today’s post looks at emotions:
▪️Gestation by @ileanaart37
◾️Unloved and Unwanted by @carol_textileart 
▪️Troubled Waters by @textile_expressions
▪️Sleeping Beauty by Lena Meszaros 

View the full virtual exhibition on the Ozquilt Network website.

#ozqnart #ozquiltnetwork #memoriesofchildhood #ozqnmembers #australiantextileart #textileart #artquilts #australianartquilts
CALL FOR ENTRIES! Art Quilt Australia 2023 (includ CALL FOR ENTRIES! Art Quilt Australia 2023 (including Expressions:The Wool Quilt Prize) is open to artists resident in Australia and New Zealand and OZQN members wherever they live.

The online entry form opened today and 
closes on 2 June 2023 at 5pm (Perth time). 

$9000 in prize money.  All selected entries are automatically eligible for consideration for the $4000 OZQN Award of Excellence (non-acquisitive). Entries into the wool quilt category  are eligible for the $4000 Expressions:Wool Quilt Prize where the winning work is acquired by the National Wool Museum for its permanent collection. There are also $500 awards for Highly Commended in both categories.

#artquiltaustralia2023 #artquiltaustralia #ozquiltnetwork #ozqnart #expressionswoolquiltprize @nationalwoolmuseum
Memories of Childhood is a new online-themed exhib Memories of Childhood is a new online-themed exhibition featuring the artwork of OZQN members. The exhibition is divided into four sections. Today’s post looks at childhood connections to objects or nature:
◾️Travelbug by #zarazannettino
◾️Christmas Beetle by @wolskerebecca 
▪️Swap Cards by @sue_broadway 
▪️That Was Then by Sue Cunningham

View the full virtual exhibition on the Ozquilt Network website.

#ozqnart #ozquiltnetwork #memoriesofchildhood #ozqnmembers #australiantextileart #textileart #artquilts #australianartquilts

Australia Wide Eight

Sue Broadway artwork
Artwork by Deborah Weir with details of the Australia Wide Eight exhibition
Detail image of The Door of No Return by Sue Reid depicting black men in chains in a corridor
Green gum leaves on light background with intensive stitching by Lois Parish Evans
Brown gum leaves printed on light coloured background
Summer Storm at Sunset by Jill Rumble
Kalbarri by Barbara Weeks
Purple and green Artwork by Lynne Hargreaves
Calistemon Cascade - two rows of red triangles on a turquoise background by Brenda Gael Smith

All artwork on this site is copyrighted by each artist.
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